With travel nearing pre-pandemic levels, Americans who will be visiting family or vacationing this holiday season face potential flight delays, cancellations and airfare prices that are up 40% from 2021.
Historically, some airports and airlines have had more issues like flight delays, cancellations and higher airfare around the holidays, providing a worse experience for consumers.
In a new study, Forbes Advisor analyzed federal transportation data for the months of November through January to determine which airports and airlines are the worst (and best) for holiday travel.
Forbes Advisor compared the 100 busiest airports across 10 key metrics from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and found that Westchester County Airport ranks #1 among the worst airports for holiday travel.
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Top 5 Worst Airports For Holiday Travel, according to Forbes Advisor …
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Westchester County Airport (HPN): Highest rate of air carrier delays (8.54%) and diverted flights (0.80%) among the 100 busiest airports.
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Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC): Highest for both average airfare price between October and December ($531.87) and average dollar increase in airfare between the summer months and the holiday season ($77.45).
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McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS): Airfare pricing between October and December is the sixth-highest among the 100 busiest airports ($446.55), and this airport reported the seventh-highest percentage of aircraft arriving late (6.42%).
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Bozeman Yellowstone International (BZN): Second highest percent of diverted flights out of the 100 busiest airports (0.79% on average) and the third highest dollar increase in airfare ahead of the holiday season ($43).
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The Eastern Iowa Airport (CID): 10th-highest average airfare price for flights between October and December ($436.27) and the fourth-highest percentage of weather delays on average (0.92%).
Which airlines are worst for holiday travel?
Forbes Advisor’s analysis found that JetBlue Airways is the worst airline for holiday travel, followed by SkyWest Airlines and Spirit Airlines.
To find out how the 100 busiest airports and eight of the largest national airlines stack up, check out Forbes Advisor’s full report.
